Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is the fourth Counter-Strike series developed by Valve Corporation and Hidden Path Entertainment that was announced on August 12, 2011 and released on August 21, 2012 at $14.99. Overview Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the updated version of Counter-Strike: Source with several new game modes, maps and weapons. The game uses the updated version of Source engine. Development Counter-Strike: Global Offensive began as a port of Counter-Strike: Source to the Xbox 360 by Hidden Path Entertainment. Valve saw the opportunity and decided to expand the game since Counter-Strike was their least updated franchise at the time. Jess Cliffe confirmed the name on the official Steam forums on August 11, 2011, while Valve confirmed it in an official announcement on August 12, 2011. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is designed on the latest version of the Source engine, and is not built off Counter-Strike: Source. Valve developed the game to be both casual and competitive, including both a matchmaking system as well as support for dedicated servers. Valve announced that the beta would begin in October, but they later delayed it due to feedback from VIP players. The closed beta started on November 30, 2011. Starting August 14, 2012, the beta was open to everyone who had pre-ordered the game. Weapons There are 8 new weapons in Global Offensive, and there will be several changes to returning weapons, such as firepower, rate of fire, accuracy, and movement rate. As confirmed in gameplay videos, silencers will also be available. Weapons in bold are new weapons that never appeared in a previous game. Weapons in italic ''are weapons that replace guns that appeared in the previous games. Pistols Terrorists *Glock 18 *''P250 (replaces the P228) *Five-seveN *Desert Eagle *Dual Elites *'Tec-9' Counter-Terrorists *Glock 18 *''P250'' *Five-seveN *Desert Eagle *Dual Elites *''P2000 (replaces the USP)'' Shotguns Terrorists *''Nova (replaces the M3)'' *''XM1014'' *'Sawed-Off' Counter-Terrorists *''Nova (''replaces the M3) *''XM1014'' *'MAG-7' Submachine guns Terrorists *MAC-10 *'MP7' (replaces the MP5) *UMP45 *'PP-Bizon' *P90 Counter-Terrorists *''MP9 (replaces the TMP)'' *'MP7' (replaces the MP5) *UMP45 *'PP-Bizon' *P90 Rifles Terrorists *''Galil AR'' *AK-47 *''SSG 08 (replaces the Steyr Scout)'' *''SG 553 (replaces the SIG SG552)'' *AWP *G3 SG/1 Counter-Terrorists *FAMAS *''M4A4 (replaces the M4A1)'' *''SSG 08 (replaces the Steyr Scout)'' *AUG *AWP *''SCAR-20 (replaces the SIG SG550 Sniper)'' Machine guns *M249 *'Negev' Equipment *Kevlar costs money in Competitive mode, while it is free in Casual mode. *The defuse kit was no longer purchasable in early betas. It is randomly given to two Counter-Terrorist at the start of the round. In Casual mode, every Counter-Terrorist will automatically be given the Defusal Kit. *There is new equipment, including Molotov cocktails, Incendiary grenade, decoy grenades, and the Zeus x27 (taser). Maps In total, Global Offensive has 16 official maps. The game contains 8 updated classic maps which are available in Casual and Competitive mode: *Aztec (Bomb defuse) *Dust (Bomb defuse) *Dust2 (Bomb defuse) *Inferno (Bomb defuse) *Italy (Hostage rescue) *Nuke (Bomb defuse) *Office (Hostage rescue) *Train (Bomb defuse) There are also 8 new maps for the new Arsenal game mode, two of which are for Arms Race mode whilst the other six are Demolition mode maps. *Baggage (Arms Race) *Shoots (Arms Race) *Short Train (Demolition) *Bank (Demolition) *Lake (Demolition) *Safe House (Demolition) *Sugarcane (Demolition) *St. Marc (Demolition) Miscellaneous *Competitive and Casual modes *New Arsenal game mode, based on the popular Gun Game mod for Counter-Strike: Source. It has two variations; Arsenal: Demolition and Arsenal: Arms Race. *Bullet penetration through some walls, materials and objects. *New factions and changes to classic ones *Matchmaking system based on skill *Support for dedicated servers *Leaderboards *The money system has been reworked to better accommodate the weapon and equipment changes. *Model size as well as hitboxes slightly reduced. *Players have soft collision (can walk through each other) in Casual mode while in competitive mode, players have hard collision (are solid objects). *Cross-platform multiplayer between Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. PlayStation 3 was previously said to be included, but later dropped. *The hand models for Counter-Terrorists and Terrorists have been graphically updated and look different for each team. *The HUD, crosshair and buy VGUI has been updated. *The PlayStation 3 version supports the DualShock 3 controller, PlayStation Move or a USB keyboard/mouse, while the Xbox 360 version is limited to a controller. *Split-screen against and with a partner for the console versions has been confirmed by Chet Faliszek during Interviews. *Offline play with bots. *When dead, players will have the ability to assume the role of a bot if no other players are using it. *When a player throws a grenade, different radio messages will appear in the chatbox, such as: **"Fire in the hole!" for HE Grenades. **"Flashbang out!" for Flashbangs. **"Smoke out!" for Smoke grenades. **"FireBomb on the way!" for Molotov cocktails and Incendiary grenades. **"Decoy out!" for Decoy grenades. Misc * Added support for ATI X1000-series GPU Trivia *''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' was announced on August 12, 2011, 12 years (exactly 146 months or 4,444 days) after Counter-Strike was originally released as a modification (June 12, 1999). Trailer Other Counter-Strike series #''Counter-Strike'' #''Counter-Strike: Condition Zero'' #''Counter-Strike: Source''